


White Christmas

by ArsenicInYourPudding



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Snowball Fights, this is really happy for me i'm out of my depth here, yj secret santa 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:38:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9062698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicInYourPudding/pseuds/ArsenicInYourPudding
Summary: Snowball fights get out of hand very, very quickly.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for kid-varmint for YJ Secret Santa 2016 - their prompt was: "A tight Green Arrow/Team relationship. Lighthearted tone, silly antics, and not too much seriousness. No Spitfire. If possible, Vigilante (the cowboy hero from Justice League). Jason Todd. Preferably an AU in which he is older than Richard and is already Red Hood while the Team is just being formed and happens to have a tight relationship with Wally, Kaldur, and Robin, even though the League doesn't like the idea of him being around the kids. Bonus points if Batman gets caught in some kind of prank from these four. Even more bonus points if Green Arrow (and Vigilante if he can be weaseled in) is somehow involved in said prank." 
> 
> I couldn't manage to work in Jason or Kaldur, and being the grumpy old woman I am "pranks" aren't my forte, but I liked the visual of a snowball fire fight. Hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

“If this is ice villains again, I’m lodging a formal complaint.” 

Robin looked over from where he was sitting upside down in an armchair in the middle of the Hall of Justice library. Wally was sprawled out over what might have been French homework, but he was staring murderously at the webcam view of the front doors. Nothing but white and grey shapes had been swirling outside for close to two hours - it had just been flurries when Batman and the Flash had shown up, respective partners in tow, but the wind speed had kicked up and the clouds had started dumping impressive quantities of snow since they arrived.

“Who knows,” Robin said with a sly smile, “maybe Flash won’t let you run in this crap and you’ll have to come back to Gotham with us until it lets up. What a shame.”

“Dude,” Wally complained. “I have finals tomorrow. I  _ need  _ to be home. If my grades slip  _ at all _ , I’m out. No more Kid Flash.”

Robin sighed, moving his bookmark from the back pages to his current place and closing his book. He kicked his feet off the back of the chair and flipped gracefully to his feet, leaving his book on the floor in front of his chair. “Let’s check the Doppler, shall we,” he suggested, like he was humoring Wally’s nerves. Which he was.

Wally pushed away from his homework, apparently grateful for the break. They settled in at the League console at the far end of the room - after a few passive-aggressive volleys after the formation of the team, Batman had eventually quit resetting the security controls when Robin hacked in, and restricted the classified files to a closed system on the Watchtower. For the most part, Robin didn’t really care, until he did. And he had other ways of getting the good stuff, anyway. He pulled up the Doppler radar for the area around the Hall and leaned back. “See? This is the worst of it, and it should be totally snowed-out in about an hour. Flash might insist on carrying you into Virginia, but you’ll still get home by dinnertime.”

“If Flash can even get down here,” Wally grumbled. They’d both heard the  _ Zeta technology offline due to atmospheric conditions _ warning an hour ago. “And he’s probably got his comm out for the meeting.”

“ _ Oh _ my god,” Robin cried, throwing his arms out expansively and turning back to his chair. “You’re such a Debbie Downer today, what the hell. There are like seven thousand  _ other  _ zeta stations around the planet, if he can’t get down to the Hall, I’m sure he’ll just zeta into like Atlanta or something and run up. Quit whining.”

Wally flopped back into his seat at the table and shot Robin a look equal parts reproachful and forlorn. “Just because you’ve been out of school for a week doesn’t mean all of us are so lucky,” he muttered.

“Yeah, but you get two weeks for Spring Break, so who’s the real winner here,” Robin argued, smiling. When that failed to get the desired reaction, Robin frowned, and strolled over to Wally’s table. “I bet I know something that’ll cheer you up.”

“Not failing my speaking test,” Wally asked flatly.

“Building a snow fort on the steps and ambushing every League member who comes in or out for the next hour.”

Wally sat up, inhaling sharply. His teeth sinking into his lip said  _ I should study _ , but his eyes said  _ yes PLEASE _ .

Robin leaned a hand on the cover of Wally’s textbook. “You know, it’s actually really bad for your brain to study too long without a break. Kills brain cells.”

“Well, since you put it that way,” Wally said, grinning as he pulled up the cowl on his uniform. Robin grabbed his cape off a nearby chair and clipped it around his throat. “I guess that’s the best thing I can do for my grades.”

“That’s the spirit,” Robin laughed, following him out into the atrium.

* * *

Grumbling, Vigilante dragged his coat on over his regular uniform before hunting around in his locker to find his gloves. The snowstorm over the Hall of Justice had finally let up just enough for the zeta tubes to come back online, and he had enough errands to run in DC that he hadn’t been able to talk himself out of venturing out in the blizzard. He’d endured enough snow as a kid in Wyoming that while he certainly didn’t feel unqualified to brave the weather, he wasn’t feeling anything but bitter, well-insulated hate for it, either.

Bundled against the weather, he stomped toward the front entrance of the Hall, steeling himself for the wet cold outside. A pair of backpacks and a scattering of notebooks were sitting unsupervised in the library as he passed through - probably members of the Team, off to make a snack before hitting the books again, he guessed.

Vigilante liked the kids well enough - Lord knew he was right up there with Superman pitching a fit about kids off fighting crime, but he’d done a rotation as Den Mother and, well. They were decent kids, teenagers all and with drama in spades, and for all he gritted his teeth about their antics on the job, they were talented and driven when things got down to the wire. Briefly, he considered doubling back and stopping by the galley to see who was here and say hey, but he’d already bundled up, and the faster he got his errands sorted out, the faster he could escape the snowstorm. Denver, oddly enough, was supposed to be clear and warm (for the Rockies, anyway). He was looking forward to it, a little bit.

_ At least I don’t have to worry about damn reporters campin’ in front of the doors _ , he thought, boots echoing up to the high ceilings in the atrium.  _ And anybody who can survive out in this weather deserves a bone, I guess.  _ He pushed through the doors, bracing for the wind.

What he hadn’t braced for was a snowball to the face.

Wet snow trailed down into his kerchief, trapped against his cheeks and funneling down past the collar of his sheepskin coat. “What in the--” he exclaimed, just in time to see another snowball come sailing toward him. This time, he had the presence of mind to duck and roll, into the shelter afforded by a small alcove to the left of the doors. The snowball smashed against the glass, leaving a streak of slush down the clean surface.

From the thin cover of the wall, Vigilante could just see a small curved wall at the base of the stairs on the opposite side, about waist-high and three-quarters of a decently sized oval. A red blur darted in and out of the opening, and Vigilante spared a moment to retract every generous thought he’d ever had about Kid Flash.

“Ceasefire,” he called into the wind, hoping he was just shooting at whatever moved and would let Vigilante go. He had errands, damnit.

“Never,” Robin yelled back. Vigilante gritted his teeth.

This wasn’t his first rodeo - he’d grown up on igloos and snowball fights - but did he really want to get into it with a bunch of kids? He was a full League member, for Christ’s sake. Surely this was beneath his dignity.

Another snowball flew past his nose, smashing against the wall.

Screw dignity.

Vigilante gathered all the snow he had at his disposal. It wasn’t a lot, but a small drift had formed in front of the door closest to him, and he managed to stick a boot out and scrape enough in before he got pelted in the hip for his trouble. Crouching, he formed three decent snowballs, patting them together with his palms. Leather gloves worked better and generally staved off the feelings of frostbite when making munitions, but all he had were a pair of cheap gas station gloves, with the thread in the fingertips that could work a touch screen. Maybe he’d get himself a new pair of work gloves for Christmas, if this shit was going to be a regular thing. Knowing Robin and Kid Flash, he strongly suspected it was.

He glanced out, calculating angles and trajectories and the odds of getting hit himself if he stepped out of his hiding place. At this point, he had limited ammunition, and even if the kids didn’t hold the distinctly richer terrain, Kid Flash gave them a clear and unfair advantage. He had to be smart about this.

Inhaling deeply, and with the knowledge that breathing through his damp mask was going to give him one hell of a round of bronchitis, Vigilante straightened inside his alcove, one snowball cradled in his hands. He stepped out and lobbed the snowball, pausing long enough to watch it arc into enemy territory before ducking back into his hiding spot.

He heard it hit with a  _ splat  _ muted by the howling wind, and Robin cackling as Kid Flash squawked in outrage. Maybe if he could hit both of them in quick succession, they’d be too busy making fun of each other to notice him making his getaway. Vigilante crouched again, reaching for his second snowball.

A well-aimed barrage of three or four smacked into his wrist, obliterating his remaining ammunition. He glared out at the snow fort. These kids were going  _ down _ .

* * *

Artemis stepped out of the zeta tube, following Zatanna out into the common areas of the Hall of Justice. Their shopping bags bumped against their knees as they walked, moderately hampered by winter gear - while Gotham wasn’t nearly as snow-locked as Washington DC right now, it was still higher on the North Atlantic, and thus just as cold.

Zatanna slowed to a halt in the library, looking around. “Didn’t Robin ask to meet here,” she asked, looking around that the deserted backpacks.

“Yeah,” Artemis said, distracted by trying to dig her phone out of her pocket. She set her shopping bags down on a chair and fished her phone out, squinting at the screen. “ _ Hall of Justice - need backup.  _ Not on the official channels, so it’s not League business, I don’t think.”

Zatanna frowned, piling her bags next to the chair Artemis had claimed. “Maybe something’s going on outside,” she said uncertainly.

“Can’t hurt to check. Think we’ll need our gear?”

She glanced down at their current attire. “I don’t know about you,” she said, pinching the lapel of her coat, “but this is warmer than almost anything I wear for work, and I’m not jazzed about the idea of summoning the energy to change out.”

Artemis sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. She’d worn it down to help keep her ears warmer in the face of her lost hat (M’gann was threatening to knit her a new one), but now seemed as good a time as any to pull it back into a hasty ponytail. The pair ventured out into the atrium, bracing themselves to enter a fight on the front lawn.

Instead of lasers or beams of magical light, a snowball splattered against the glass of the door farthest to the left. Artemis and Zatanna exchanged glances, and Zatanna cautiously pulled the door open.

Vigilante was pressed into the alcove opposite them, cradling a snowball in his hands. From Artemis’s vantage point, she could see a small fortress at the bottom of the stairs. Wally’s unmistakeable red hair peeked out from the top.

“Ladies,” Robin yelled gleefully. “Come on down!”

Zatanna glanced around at the scene from the safety of the door. She looked at Vigilante, whose kerchief was already dampened to a splotchy burgundy. “You seem a little outnumbered,” she observed mildly. “Need some help?”

“Wouldn’t say no,” Vigilante said, his voice tense. “Damn kids got me pinned down like sniper fire.” Artemis grinned.

“What,” Wally yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “Come on! You’re supposed to be on our side!”

“Out of uniform? Not a chance in hell,” Artemis yelled back. Zatanna paused, one foot out the door, as if struck by an idea.

“Not a bad plan, though,” she muttered. Louder, she intoned, “ Egnahc sehtolc otni ruo ralop smrofinu!” Artemis’s jeans and second-hand ski coat morphed into her polar stealth gear - even her hair resettled into its usual tidy ponytail. Zatanna’s dark blue peacoat shifted into her polar stealth coat, the cape swirling behind her as she pulled the hood up around her face and stepped outside. “Rehtag wons otni a llaw!”

Snow from the front lawn swirled up onto the stairs, momentarily obscuring the boys and their fort. It formed into a neatly packed wall, extending Vigilante’s available space from a foot on the other side of the top step to the edge of the door Zatanna and Artemis had exited. “Mighty kind of ya,” he said, sounding relieved, even if he had to sink to his knees to be fully behind the wall’s protection.

Zatanna grinned. “Not done yet. Ekam su sllabwons!” A neat cannonball stack of perfect snow spheres assembled out of the ether between them.

“I’ll be,” Vigilante laughed.

“Pass me a couple of those,” Artemis said, crouching behind the wall. “I’ll teach Kid Mouth a lesson he’ll  _ never  _ forget.”

* * *

Ollie saw Roy tense up before he even caught sight of him, and briefly he entertained the thought of Roy having some kind of Ollie-sense that made him bristle before words were even exchanged, before he remembered that he had, in fact, just stepped out of the zeta tubes, and the computer announced the League ID of anyone coming through. It made him feel a bit better, but not by much.

“Roy,” he said, hoping he sounded at least casual and nonthreatening.

Roy sighed, like he’d been hoping Ollie would be too awkward to say anything. “Ollie,” he acknowledged, his voice scraped raw. The shadows under his eyes had grown in the month since Ollie had seen him last. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah. Watchtower duty,” Ollie said, gesturing lamely to the zeta tubes behind him.

Roy’s eyes narrowed. “Shift change was over an hour ago.”

Ollie fought to not get defensive. “I made a round after I clocked out, caught up with some people. Takes a while.” Before he could restrain himself, he added, “More than a couple asked about you, you know.”

Instead of bristling, Roy’s shoulders slumped a little. “Sure,” he muttered, sounding exhausted.

“It’s not like that,” Ollie tried, fighting down a grimace. “You’ve got people who care about you here, not just me and Dinah. You’re a full member of the League, and that’s not just a list of responsibilities. That’s a whole roster of people who have your back.”

Roy folded his arms over his threadbare coat, turning away a little bit. Unsure of himself and hating every minute of it, Ollie shoved his hands into the pockets of his own coat, studying the baseboard of the hallway. They stood in awkward silence, both too exhausted to rehash the same argument again.

“Excuse me,” someone said behind him, and Ollie jolted, hopping aside as Hawkwoman stepped past him, her wing brushing his sleeve despite how far she’d drawn it back. She hurried past them down the hallway, apparently eager to avoid eavesdropping.

When Ollie refocused on Roy, he’d turned back to his original course and was following Hawkwoman down the hall. Ollie hurried after him, matching his stride. “Did you need something at the Hall,” he asked, a bit overeager. “Maybe I can help.”

The tension in Roy’s shoulders ratcheted a little tighter. At this rate, he was likely to break something if he got any more stressed out, Ollie thought. “Not really,” he said, his voice low as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just checking a rumor against the League database. Nothing came of it.”

Ollie’s shoulders fell. “About Speedy,” he affirmed quietly, knowing the answer in the pit of his stomach.

“Don’t,” Roy snapped. “I’m not giving up on this.”

“I know,” Ollie said gently. “I’m not-- I’m not asking you to. But really, Roy, you’ve been at this for almost a year.”

“He deserves to have  _ someone  _ looking for him,” Roy argued. “He deserves to have  _ you _ looking, but life’s not always fair like that, is it?”

“I am looking,” Ollie said defensively. “I’m doing everything physically possible to find him, but Roy, I also know that I’m no good to him  _ or  _ me  _ or you _ , if I’m operating beyond my limits. A lesson you could stand to learn.”

Roy scoffed. “Doesn’t matter,” he said, and he didn’t have to say  _ I’m not a real person  _ for Ollie to hear it.

Awkwardly, Ollie walked with Roy to the main atrium, trying desperately to think of something to say. “Look, maybe I--”

A pair of doors midway down the line slammed open, and Hawkwoman came storming through, dusted in thick wet snow. Clumps of it slid down the front of her breastplate. “ _ Children _ ,” she exploded darkly, crossing the atrium in a few flaps of her wings. Roy and Ollie exchanged a look and edged toward the doors.

Through the snow-clogged glass, Ollie could see a modest wall of tightly packed snow stretching from the edge of the front step nearly to the door at the end of the row, protecting three hunched figures. Artemis’s distinctive polar stealth gear stood out, even through the snow-caked glass. Curious, Ollie pulled the door open a little.

“You seem to be in over your head, Vig,” he called mildly.

“Bite me, they started it,” Vigilante called back, lobbing a snowball at a snow fort at the bottom of the opposite end of the stairs. “Y’all offerin’ backup?”

Ollie glanced at Roy, who was eyeing the whole thing with the kind of stubborn cynicism Ollie had come to expect in the past year and a half. “This is what I’m talking about,” he said quietly. “Sometimes you just have to blow off a little steam.” And with that, he stepped out and behind Vigilante’s snow defenses, crouching and reaching around Zatanna to get to their snowball stockpile.

Roy hesitated, one booted foot holding the door open. At last, he stepped outside and let it fall shut. “Aw, come on,” Kid Flash shouted at the bottom of the stairs. “That’s not fair, we’re outnumbered two and a half to one now!”

“We can take ‘em,” Robin laughed. Roy glanced at Vigilante and Ollie, crouched on either side of the girls.

“Maybe you should pick on someone your own size,” he said with a small, sharp smile, ducking around the wall and jogging for Robin and Kid Flash’s snow fort. He was welcomed with triumphant yelling as he slid around to the gap in the wall and ducked inside.

“Oh, it is going  _ down _ ,” Ollie muttered, but he couldn’t help grinning as he snatched another snowball and hurled it over the wall.

Between Kid Flash and Zatanna, a neverending supply of snowballs flew through the air between the two forts. Out of the corner of his eye, Ollie could see groups of tourists - the few who had braved the weather as soon as the storm let up from  _ life-threatening  _ to  _ miserable  _ \- gathering in clusters on either side of the reflecting pool. Small blinking lights signaled cameras going off periodically through the crowds.

Plastic Man poked his head out one of the middle doors, his neck elongating to take in the situation. Almost as one, all of the combatants started hurling snowballs at his face. At least three made contact as he squawked in surprise and ducked back inside. Beside Ollie, Zatanna snickered and high-fived Artemis before going back to attempting a direct hit to Kid Flash.

A woman bundled in a fur coat hurried up the sidewalk. Robin popped up from his snow fort and pelted her with a particularly large snowball, shouting, “Vixen!” gleefully as it made contact. She spluttered for a second before crouching, scooping up a massive handful of snow, and compacting it just enough to hold its shape before returning fire. It smashed into Robin’s shoulder, and Vixen used the ensuing momentary shock to hurry up the stairs.

For several minutes, they resumed aiming their snowballs at each other. Roy hit Artemis on top of her head with a high arcing snowball - Ollie could hear Kid Flash high five and congratulate him on a direct hit. Vigilante retaliated with three thrown in quick succession. Two smashed into the wall of their snow fort, but one made contact with Robin’s left eye, leaving him stunned and blinking.

“Is that all you got,” Artemis taunted, tossing snowballs that smashed on the pavement just in front of them, to draw them out. Zatanna mumbled something under her breath, and a gust of wind swirled enough snow up into the air that neither side could see their opponents.

The door opened again. As if on cue, everyone turned just enough to pelt whoever was coming outside, a brief moment of solidarity. Ollie watched as if in slow motion as several snowballs smashed against a deep black cape, feeling a dawning horror crawl over him as Batman’s cape swished to a halt on the top step of the Hall of Justice.

All snowballs gradually stopped. Robin threw the last one, which hit almost directly in the center of Batman’s chest, and pointed to Vigilante. “They started it!”

Batman turned, slowly, menacingly, to look at Ollie and Vigilante. Ollie leaned forward enough to look Vigilante in the eye. “Personally,” he said conversationally, “I blame you for this. Jerk."


End file.
